Last night I warmed up a hotdog for my 2 year-old son. Normally I warm up the dog first and then cut it into slices but it struck me that I would burn my fingers less if I reversed the process. So that's what I did. The upshot was that the dog started sparking! Yeah, I was pretty amazed too.

Here's the question I sent off to Bar-S, the maker of my otherwise tasty meat:

I warmed up a hotdog tonight in the microwave and it sparked. It had only been in for about 10 seconds on high power (600W oven or so). I had cut it into about 10 slices, if that makes a difference.

Why does that happen? What can I do to avoid it? Is my sparked meat dangerous? I immediately removed it from the oven. Is it safe to eat?

And the resultant response:

The sparks from the hot dogs are caused by fat particles escaping from the surface of the hot dog. We always recommend that any food be covered while cooking in the microwave because it is such an intense cooking method that it spatters, explodes, boils over, etc. easily if not kept under control.

Consumer Relations
Bar-S Foods Co.

Well, that didn't answer all my questions like whether the meat is still safe to eat. I fed it to my son anyway. I'll let you know if anything befalls him.